UK deports Ethiopian sex offender who was wrongly released from prison
An undated handout custody photograph released by Essex Police on September 23, 2025 shows Ethiopian asylum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu who was sentenced to one year in jail for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman.
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Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was sentenced to a 12-month term in September for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman.
Officials accidentally released him from prison on October 24. He was then found and held after a three-day manhunt, with officials confirming he would then be deported.
"I have pulled every lever to deport Mr Kebatu and remove him off British soil," interior minister Shabana Mahmood said in a statement, calling him a "vile child sex offender".
"Last week's blunder should never have happened – and I share the public's anger that it did."
Kebatu's arrest for the sexual offences in July led to protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, 20 miles (32 km) north of London, which became a touch-paper for other demonstrations amid rising tensions over immigration.
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